Right about now, I wish I had a postage scale in my house. It's one of those things I've been meaning to get, and it would come in handy in this last-inning stretch of shopping and errand-running.

Why? Because the U.S. Postal Service will pick up your packages and holiday cards right from your front steps. The line at my post office gets pretty long this time of year, and I'm sure I'll be there in a long one Monday morning getting my gifts out.

If you're interested in trying the DIY-post-office approach, check out the U.S. Postal Service web site, where you can easily print mailing labels and enter all the information needed to mail a package and to request a home pickup. You can add frequent recipients to an address book and track and confirm packages sent, all online. This time next year, I plan to do it this way.

If you haven't shipped your package yet, either, and want to compare the U.S. Postal Service's prices with other shippers, check out these web sites:

RedRoller.com - Compare shipping rates for the same package with several carriers, including the U.S. Postal Service, DHL, Overnite Express, and Eastern Connection.

iShip.com - Compares rates with multiple carriers, including the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, FedEx, and DHL.

Anything that can help shorten or remove a trip to the Post Office is worth checking out. As always, if you've got some shipping secrets that have helped you get packages out the door smoothly this holiday season, post away.